"I Wanna Die Easy" - new Intro for Tales to Terrify

This week the new intros to the District of Wonders podcasts StarShipSofa and Tales To Terrify have gone live and guess whose music is being used for Tales to Terrify? That's right Yours Truly! "I Wanna Die Easy" sung live by the Choir of the Church of Christ the King, Frankfurt (director Kathy Bird) with solo vocals by me is the new background music for the podcast. I'm a pleased puppy, that Tony wanted to use this music.

You may be asking yourself, "But why this song?" Well, there's a little story that might explain it a little bit, but for the real reason, you may have to ask Tony Smith (host and owner of the District of Wonders podcast family). Way back in 2007, when I first started listening to StarShipSofa and joined their member forum, Tony was vetting each new member and he found his way to my MySpace space, where I had this song in my playlist. He wrote to me and told me he was blown away by it, and would like to play it on the next show. Now, this was when it was StarShipSofa (no other podcasts) with him and Ciaran O'Connor shootin' the sh*t, as it were, about Science Fiction authors, reading listener email and such. I have to admit I didn't understand why he would want to play that song on a show about Science Fiction, but hey, I wasn't going to complain about the exposure! He played it on show #?? about SF author ??

Years later, Tony asked me if he could use it for the theme and promo music of the podcast Blood & Chrome, which was to be about Battlestar Galactica, if I remember correctly. Unfortunately, that show never got off the ground, but long-time, loyal listeners might remember it and the song.

Now, it has a new lot in life as the Intro and Outro music for the very popular Horror Fiction podcast Tales to Terrify. Go have a listen, you don't have to listen to the whole show if Horror is not your thing. If it is, I highly recommend it, you won't hear my dear, late friend and colleague, Larry Santoro's dulcet tones hosting the show, but the "new" host and the show are still excellent.

Singing: American Cathedral Choir

Way back in June, when we found out we would be moving to Paris, I wrote to the Choir Director at the American Cathedral here, because it had occurred to me that I could sing with a top-notch choir again on a regular basis. At that time, I thought we would be in Paris in September already. Ha! We finally showed up in Paris at the end of November and didn't even make it to a church service until late January.

I know a member of the choir, Bill Ickes, who had also encouraged me to join the choir and he wasn't there the first two times we attended services, but the next time he was and he introduced me to the choir director, Zachary Ullery. By that time, it was already close to Easter and so we agreed that I would be in touch after Easter so he could hear me. It took me a little longer to get in touch because I was super busy preparing to sing Mozart's Requiem in Dillenburg and I was traveling every weekend in April.

Finally, 2 Sundays ago (May 2013) we were at church and so Bill reintroduced me to Zach. He didn't appear to remember me, but we made arrangements to meet prior to the choir's regular rehearsal in 2 week's time. That was last Thursday. I appeared at the appointed hour, wondering how to get inside the church. Luckily, some construction workers and people who looked like they belonged to the church staff or similar came out and let me inside. Zach took me through some vocaleses and had me sight-read a few things, including Anglican Chant. Oh no! I hadn't done Anglican Chant since my days at Christ the King in Frankfurt and while I know how it works, I was never very masterful at sight-reading it. Well, it went pretty well despite that, and so did the other sight-reading he had me do. I was relatively pleased, because for me, it's a matter of practice, and I've been woefully out of practice sight-reading in the last few years.

He invited me to join the rehearsal by way of continuing the audition. I met the other
members during the break (complete with red wine, baguette, cheese and sausage!) and they were excited to hear I'd likely be around for a couple of years. I guess some people show up and are only staying in Paris for a few months.

I must have passed the test because Zach said I could join them on Sunday (Pentecost). We sang Tallis' "If ye Love Me", Gibbons' "Song 44" and Grayston Ives' "Listen Sweet Dove". Lovely music. My two closest Mom-friends, Francesca and Elisabetta, came and sat with Magnus while Dante went to Sunday School. The choir sits in the (unsuprisingly uncomfortable) choir stalls at the front of the nave and we get all gussied up in cassocks and surpluses!

All in all it was a lovely experience and I will enjoy singing with them on a regular basis. Next week is a big celebration instating the new Dean and Rector, Lucinda Laird and in two weeks the choir sings Evensong! Yippee! I love Evensong.

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Report: Raggio di Sol - Concert "Colors of Life"/"Farben des Lebens"

Raggio di Sol gave a concert on Pentecost Monday (as it's called here). The first one since I joined the group. The concert went well but not without more than it's fair share of drama before-hand. One of our female singers, and alto, got into a fairly serious bicycle accident after our penultimate regular rehearsal. She spend several days in the hospital, underwent surgery on her arm and suffered from a mild concussion. It was clear that she wasn't going to be able to perform, so Alfredo asked one of the singers who's supplementing the ensemble in September's big benefit concert to fill in. As fate would have it, she came down with the flu and had no voice, so had to cancel at the last minute. Such it is with singers. You just can't sing if you have some infection in the upper airways!

So, what were we to do? Some of the pieces we couldn't shuffle the rest of us around to fill in the gab, so they got axed, others we could. This is the program we were left with:

Pierrre Attaignant (1530) - Tourdion
Thoinot Arbeau - Pavane
Michael Praetorius (1571 - 1621) - Kyrie XXII
- Gloria XVII
G. P. da Palestrina (1525 - 1594) - Sicut cervus
Orlando di Lasso (1532 - 1594) - Lebensregel
Mateo Flecha? (1481 - 1553) - Riu, riu chiu

Thomas Morley (1558 - 1603) - Hard by a Crystal Fountain
Heinrich Schütz (1585 - 1672) - Verleih' uns Frieden
Claudio Monteverdi (1567 - 1643) - Sfogava con le stelle
- Anima mia perdona
- Che se tu se'il cor mio
- Luci serene e chiare

We had to leave off pieces by Thomas Tallis, Giovanni Gastoldi, Melchior Franck and Andreas Hammerschmidt. A real pity, but hopefully we be able to perform them at a later date.

I think despite the truncated offerings, that the concert was well received. The church was not full, by any stretch of the imagination, but neither was it empty which was positive, given that it was the end of a long holiday weekend when most people go away. Our hard work trying to memorize the Monteverdi paid off for the most part. They were emotive and pliant which is what they need. Even if we couldn't do them memorized because Ingo was stepping in for Irma.

I was especially pleased to see a couple of my voice students (and parents) there as well as a neighbor and some colleagues of Magnus'.

Upcoming singing events include 2 concerts in Poland singing Hildegard von Bingen with my good friend Allegra Silbiger's group, the benefit concert with Raggio di Sol and more Hildegard in Dillenburg. Hopefully, some more performances will be added before the end of the year.

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Raggio di Sol

Last Autumn I joined a vocal ensemble - Raggio di Sol. A choir if you will. There are 8 of us and a colleague, someone I sang with in a production of L'Incoronazione di Poppea, Alfredo Ihl, who directs and sings. I joined for two reasons: because Alfredo asked if I would, and because I decided it wouldn't be a bad idea to begin singing again on a regular basis (even if it's not paid). I love singing choral music, especially in a small group, in which I mostly get to sing by myself on the soprano line. :-)

Anyway, we are preparing for a benefit concert (benefitting the earthquake victims in Chile - from last year) and will be singing absolutely wonderful music by Monteverdi, Tallis, Hammerschmidt, Gastoldi and many more. I'll tell you more about the concert when it gets nearer and report on it once it's happened.

This weekend we will be rehearsing all weekend and performing at the church we rehearse at, doing the music for their service Sunday morning at 10am. If you are in Hannover or anywhere near here, please feel free to drop in and listen! We're at the Lukaskirche, Dessauerstr. 2, Hannover. If you're not near here, well then, don't worry, perhaps I'll post a recording (if Alfredo and the others don't mind).

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